The present invention is directed to a metal panel used in a suspended ceiling structure and to an accessible concealed ceiling system utilizing the panel.
It is known to provide a suspended ceiling system which utilizes a plurality of parallel-extending main runners and has a plurality of cross runners extending between the main runners to form openings which will receive a panel. Each of the runners has an inverted-T configuration, which, preferably, has a bead connected by a web portion to two outwardly-extending flanges. The flanges are used to support the panels. An example of such a system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,325, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference thereto.
Instead of laying the panels on the flanges, it has also been proposed to have the panels shaped as a ship lap tile which has one edge provided with a rabbet or recess to enable it to lay on the flange of a runner while the other edge has a groove or kerf and is provided with a portion to extend under the flanges of the runner so that when assembled, the runners are not visible.
It has also been proposed to shape a metal panel to be suspended from the inverted-Ts in a manner similar to the ship lap tile. This arrangement is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,736,564.
In the first suspended ceiling system mentioned above, the panels are laying on the flanges and, thus, can be easily raised to gain access to any space above the suspended ceiling. With a ship lap tile, these can be raised at one side and then shifted to enable their removal to gain access to a space above the system. Also, some of the metal panels, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,736,564, can be removed. However, some of the structures disclosed in that patent are such that to remove a panel in the middle of a ceiling requires removal of all panels from one side back toward the center position. In order to gain access to the space above the ceiling, which space may include plumbing for a sprinkling system or air ducts for ventilation, it is desirable that any individual panel can be removed to enable access at a given spot.